Harveydoggus

Harvey was found as a stray by the local dog pound. He was placed on the euthenasia list because he had cherry eyes (essentially styes in his eyes.) The surgery to repair that was $160. Although our dog pound is now trying to provide the necessary vet care for all the animals that come in so they can be adopted, that wasn’t the case back then. Fortunately a local rescue group called Cold Wet Noses rescued him and saved his life. They got him the surgery he needed then started looking for his forever home.

My old cat, Claire, was dying. She was comfortable with the care I was giving her, but with renal failure she didn’t have long. Our son was only 4 or 5. He loved Claire. He would snuggle with her when he slept. I told my husband I wanted to get a replacement cat when she died. He didn’t want to have cats again so agreed to a small dog. When the time came for a little dog I searched through all the local rescue groups listed on Petfinder Harvey sounded perfect. And he was.

All Harvey wants from life is to sit on someone’s lap or to snuggle with them at night. He does sing with the coyotes, but otherwise he only barks when someone unknown stops by. We do have to worry about him because of his small size. We tell him his nickname is “Appetizer.” If he were to get out there’s a good chance he’d never come home. One evening, when we only had four dogs, we were out for a family walk and two coyotes showed up in the road. Allie went to chase them off and Firetruck joined her. Then three more coyotes came from somewhere else in hot pursuit. Marta started chasing after those coyotes. Dogs and coyotes were running up and down the hills all around us. We knew Allie and Firetruck would be fine and the coyotes would leave us and the kids alone. But Marta being older could have been a problem. Our biggest concern was for Harvey. Even though he was on a leash just a few feet from me, I have heard stories of coyotes grabbing small leashed dogs. I picked up Harvey and held him close so nothing happened to him in the frenzy.

Soon the coyotes left. It wasn’t wise of them to waste precious calories dealing with domesticated dogs too big and strong to conquer. Still, I carried Harvey in my arms all the way home. Just in case.